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2012 Program Archive
July 17 - The Fall of the Assad Regime Coming Soon; Bankers Behaving Badly; Big Donor Files Vanish From FEC
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We begin with Syria, where street battles are underway in Damascus indicating the fall of the Assad regime might happen sooner than expected. Rafif Jouejati joins us from Cairo, she is the English-language spokesperson for the Syrian Local Coordinating Committees inside Syria and we discuss claims that the Assad regime has already used chemical weapons against the opposition and look into whether Syria’s WMD arsenals might end up with Iran or Hezbollah. |
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Then we examine a report by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released Monday about the extent to which the global British bank HSBC has been engaged in laundering money for Mexican drug cartels, dealt with Iran, Syria and Cuba, and is doing business with a Saudi Bank that was an early benefactor of Al Qaeda. Former banking investigator, William K Black, the author of “The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One” joins us. |
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Then finally we speak with Thomas Ferguson who has been investigating the deletion of key files at the Federal Election Commission, documenting so-called “dark money” contributions from some of Romney’s biggest donors such as the “swift-boater” Harold Simmons. Tom Ferguson has an article at Alternet “Revealed: Key Files on Big-Ticket Political Donations Vanish at Federal Election Commission.” |
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| MUSIC: Dead Kennedys - Chemical Warfare; Immortal Technique - Rich Man's World; Shabazz Palaces - Yeah You; Ottis Redding - Tell The Truth |
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July 16 - Romney's Money and Money Men in Trouble; Restoring Wealth, Not Jobs, Is the Priority; Mini Skirts, Mickey Mouse and the Mystery Madam
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We begin with an analysis of how bad things could get for Mitt Romney as the slow drip about his tenure at Bain Capital, how much money he made, what taxes he paid, and how much of his wealth has been hidden continues. Jacob Heilbrunn, a Senior Editor at The National Interest joins us to discuss this, as well as news that Romney’s biggest Super PAC donor Sheldon Adelson might be in big trouble. |
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Then we look into the “jobs” and “job creator” narrative that has been and presumably will be again, a central issue in this year’s presidential campaign. The Editor-in-Chief of the Washington Monthly magazine Paul Glastris joins us to discuss how the lack of jobs did not create the great recession that has wiped out 40% of the average family’s wealth, and that the campaign should be about how the middle class can get out from under ruinous debt and rebuild its wealth. |
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Then finally we look into the firing of the head of North Korea’s military and some of the recent surreal happenings in the hermit kingdom with Sue Mi Terry, the former Deputy National Intelligence Officer for East Asia at the National Intelligence Council and the Director of Japan, Korea and Oceanic Affairs at the National Security Council. She joins us to discuss mini-skirts, Mickey Mouse and the mysterious woman accompanying the boy emperor. |
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| MUSIC: Lynard Skynard - Money Man; Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues; Bright Eyes - Light Pollution; Mickey Mouse Club Theme |
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July 15 - Barack Fights Back; The Financialization of the U.S. Economy; Putin Pushes Laws to Kill What's Left of Russian Democracy
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We begin with the apparent turnaround of Barack Obama who has been a disappointment to liberals and progressives, many of whom consider the president weak and too accommodating to the Republicans who constantly vilify him. James Kloppenberg, professor of American History and Chair of the Department of History at Harvard University and author of “Reading Obama: Dreams, Hope, and the American Political Tradition” joins us to discuss the more assertive candidate on the campaign trail who appears to have his opponent Mitt Romney on the defensive, forcing Romney to either reveal or continue to cover up the full extent of how much wealth he has, how he got it, what taxes he’s paid and whether he lied to the SEC or the American people. |
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Then we look into the growing financialization of the U.S. and world economies with Ozgur Orhangazi, the author of “Financialization of the U.S. Economy”. We discuss historical examples of empires whose power rises on the back of productive industrial capitalism, followed by domination by the financial sector that eventually cannibalizes the productive sector in pursuit of concentrated financial gain, leading to weakness and collapse. |
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Then finally we go to Moscow for an update on the furious pace with which Vladimir Putin is having his rubber-stamp parliament push through laws that restrict the Internet, penalize peaceful protest, fine journalists and categorize non-governmental organizations as acting as foreign agents. Masha Gessen, the author of “The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Valdimir Putin” joins us. |
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| MUSIC: Theme from Rocky; Shabazz Palaces - Gun Beat Falls; Arcade Fire - Wake Up; The Beatles - Back In The USSR |
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July 12 - Mitt's Three Year Memory Lapse; Texas Voter ID Law Will Head For the Supreme Court; The Biggest Threat to Nigeria - Oil Theft
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We begin with today’s revelation by the Boston Globe that Mitt Romney stayed on as head of Bain Capital three years longer than he had previously stated, during a time that Romney has claimed he is not responsible for Bain Capitol companies that went bankrupt and laid off workers. Chris Rowland, the Washington Bureau Chief of the Boston Globe, who along with co-author Callum Borchers, wrote the Globe article “Mitt Romney Stayed on at Bain Longer Than he Stated”, joins us to discuss this embarrassing new information that plays into Obama’s TV campaign which accuses Romney of outsourcing and laying off workers. |
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Then we examine the Texas Voter ID law hearing before a three judge federal panel in Washington DC where the Justice Department’s challenge under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is likely to lead to an appeal that could soon be before the Supreme Court where the constitutionality of the centerpiece of the Voting Rights Act will be in jeopardy. Wendy Weiser, who directs the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School, joins us to discuss the fate of a law that as it stands, will disqualify up to 800,000 eligible and likely Democratic voters in Texas. |
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Then finally, with today’s tragedy in Nigeria where over 100 people were burned alive trying to siphon gasoline from an overturned tanker truck, we look further into the rampant problem of oil theft that according to Nigeria’s Finance Minister, costs the nation a billion or more a month in revenues. Aniedi Okure, the Executive Director of Africa Faith and Justice Network joins us to discuss how crime, in addition to corruption, terrorism and ethnic strife, is stifling Nigeria’s future. |
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| MUSIC: Born Ruffians - Retard Canard; Propellerheads - History Repeating; Dirty Projectors - Spray Paint The Walls; Fela Kuti - Sorrow, Tears, and Black |
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July 11 - Who is Winning the Battle to Define"Obamacare"?; The GOP's 2012 Strategy of Money In, People Out; Where Does Mitt's Money Live?
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We begin with today's 31st vote by House Republicans to repeal what they call Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, which has been both passed into law, and upheld by the Supreme Court. Ethan Rome, the executive director of Health Care For America Now joins us to discuss why Republicans feel this is a winning strategy and why the Obama Administration has allowed the Affordable Care Act to be defined so negatively while not adequately explaining its benefits. |
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Then Ilyse Hogue joins us. A columnist with The Nation and the former director of Political Advocacy for MoveOn.org, she has an article at The Nation “Money in, People out: The Twin Pillars of the GOP’s 2012 Strategy”. We discuss both sides of the Republican 2012 strategy for victory in November; prevent as many Democrats as they can from voting, while raising record amounts of money from undisclosed donors to carpet bomb the airwaves and numb the electorate into submission. |
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Then finally, following a ground-breaking article in Vanity Fair by Nicholas Shaxon, “Where the Money Lives”, we look into how much money Mitt Romney has been hiding off shore in the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and in Swiss banks. Scott Klinger the Tax Policy Director of Business for a Shared Prosperity and one of the authors of the report “Executive Excess 2011: The Massive CEO Rewards for Tax Dodging”, joins us. |
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| MUSIC: Ray Charles - I Don't Need No Doctor; Tokyo Police Club - Your English Is Good; Ben Harper - Mister; My Morning Jacket - The Day is Coming |
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